The Brattleboro Selectboard, where I’ve served as clerk since last spring, has repeatedly committed to prioritize fiscal responsibility. Now the rubber meets the road — We have an opportunity to align our actions with our words.
The selectboard has tough decisions to make. At our meeting Tuesday night we prioritized honest budgeting for a more realistic picture of expected revenue and expenses. We restored funding for critical infrastructure for our bridges, retaining walls and bicycles. And we unanimously passed my motion to restore the finance director position. If we can stick with these decisions, we will set the town up for better financial health and stability.
Now we need to act to lower municipal taxes. Brattleboro can’t afford another year of high tax increases. My motion to remove new staff positions from multiple departments passed the board. The board needs to make further cuts across departments that have recently added new positions, proportionally to the departments’ size, in order to bring down taxes for Brattleboro residents. These are painful decisions, but we need a Brattleboro that we can afford.
PLEASE NOTE: These are my opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of the Brattleboro Selectboard.
